Crime and Punishment

November 25, 2011

If he has a conscience he will suffer for his mistake. That will be punishment – as well as the prison. Fyodor dostoevsky Buttermilk biscuits hot out of the oven! The screams would usually start long after school had begun.  These were not garden-variety screams, the kind you might expect to hear from the would-be [...]

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Sticks and Stones

October 23, 2011

The first time it happened was a few weeks ago. Somewhere between pasta and clarinet practice, a time usually reserved for homework, I found Andrew on Facebook at the desktop and watching some video on a laptop, while listening to music with his headphones plugged into an Ipod.  He looked like one of the plugged [...]

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Dog Days of Summer, Final Part IV

September 29, 2011

  When last we left Maggie, she was escaping through the window and down a tree….   I got in my car and drove down the street in the direction of Maggie’s sudden “I can fly” moment out of our second-story window.  I watched Andrew take off into the night on his bicycle.  My car [...]

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Dog Days of Summer, Part III

September 17, 2011

  Tragically, there was no shortage of dogs to be rescued.  The list was so long in both the retriever and shepherd websites I had perused that I lost much sleep as I poured long into the night over the pictures and profiles of abandoned pets.  I was fairly sure I wanted a dog who [...]

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Dog Days of Summer, Part II

September 9, 2011

  A week later, on a Sunday morning at 6:30 am, Donna and Teddy pulled up to the house.  Teddy greeted me like he had known me for years.  Donna and I sat on the front lawn and talked as she threw the ball for him.  Just like my sister’s Heelers, he didn’t need a [...]

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The Dog Days of Summer

September 2, 2011

  Update: My mother is “almost” fully recovered.  She does get tired in the afternoon and has a few lingering antibiotic needs.  Also, she is starting to act like a 50 years old lady and not the 30 years young lady she did before she got sick.  Although she is more than 60 and less [...]

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Dandelions And Cherries

August 2, 2011

  Cherries teach us the meaning of “Carpe Diem”. They are here today and gone tomorrow. Get them while you can!   I realize that it has been three weeks since I last posted anything.  In fact, it’s been three weeks since I have been able to write anything more complicated than my signature at [...]

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Guess Who’s Coming (Out) At Dinner?

July 12, 2011

  Stuffed Squash Blossoms with Three Cheeses It was three years ago on the Fourth of July and we had just arrived at Cedar City, Utah for the Shakespeare festival.  Each summer we meet a few other families to share four days immersed in the English language’s highest literary accomplishments and some of the culinary [...]

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Christmas in June

June 30, 2011

“What plans do you have for your summer break?” is a question I have been fielding for weeks.   People who know me have come to expect an answer that includes some exciting adventure or destination.  I take the educator’s perk of two months off seriously and scrimp and save all year long to have enough [...]

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A Chip Off The Old Writer’s Block

June 19, 2011

  We owe so much of who we are to our parents.  For better or for worse, we are our parents’ children.  I’ll never forget the experience of hearing Andrew, not long after he came to live with me, hit me with a sarcastic response to a question he thought had an obvious answer.  The [...]

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